The Greens continue their fight for $1 pokie limits, and wish to trial the technology. The political party has recently decided that Tasmania would be the ideal location in which to test the implementation of $1 betting limits for poker machines. When the idea of pokie reform was first introduced, The Greens fought to convince the federal government to impose $1 betting limits on pokies.
However, Prime Minister Julia Gillard decided to go with a voluntary pre-commitment system, which would allow players to choose whether or not they would like to set betting limits. “Tasmania is the perfect candidate for a trial of a $1 bet limit, particularly now that the Federal reforms have largely fallen through,” says Kim Booth, Gaming spokesperson for The Greens.
“This model of harm minimisation has the endorsement of the Productivity Commission as well as a variety of non-governmental organisations”. Tasmania has been selected because the area continues to lose millions of dollars every year on poker machines. In 2012 alone, residents lost a total of $200 million. So, it seems to be a great place to start when it comes to attempting to reduce gambling spending.
The idea behind betting limits is that players will be more aware of their spending and more able to make responsible decisions regarding gambling. The Greens maintain that the betting limits will not affect recreational players; they will only stop problem gamblers from spending beyond their means.
The 2010 Select Committee on the Gaming Control Amendment Bill showed that imposing $1 betting limits would cost the gambling industry just over $11 million. Considering that pokies in Tasmania bring in $200 million in profits every year, it certainly is a small price to pay in order to reduce the potential harm that games can cause.
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